


There ain't nothing here for me anymore (but I don't wanna be alone)

by Niltoden



Category: Euphoria (TV 2019)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25260373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niltoden/pseuds/Niltoden
Summary: Rue shows up at Lexi's house the night of winter formal and interrupts Lexi's sad boi times.First fic, feedback is appreciated!
Relationships: Rue Bennett/Lexi Howard
Comments: 5
Kudos: 71





	There ain't nothing here for me anymore (but I don't wanna be alone)

Lexi opens the door to her house and steps inside quietly, trying to sneak in without alerting her mother to her early return. She looks towards the living room to see that she didn’t need to bother with sneaking, as her mom was snoring softly on the couch with a wine bottle in her hand, dimly illuminated by the glow of the TV. 

Lexi turns and makes her way upstairs, closing her bedroom door and letting her head fall against it with a small thunk. It was the night of the winter formal, and Lexi didn’t know how her plans had fallen apart so badly. Her confidence was at an all-time high heading into the night, and she could probably give some credit to Maddy and her nauseating mixed drink for that. Lexi had been conflicted about her feelings for Rue for a while now, and thanks to some encouragement from Cassie, had decided that tonight was going to be the night where she came clean about to Rue. Just as Lexi had gotten up to look for her, she had realized that Rue had already the left the dance with Jules. Crushed, Lexi had made her way home soon after. Now here she was, all alone in her bedroom at 10 pm while the girl she’s been crushing on is out with someone else.

Lexi signs deeply and makes her way to her closet to change. She catches sight of herself in the mirror and stops for a moment to stare at her red-rimmed eyes. She had put so much effort into looking good for tonight, which had turned out to be a wasted effort. She takes off the dress and slowly puts on her pajamas, her mind already occupied with how long it will take to clean all the make-up off her face. 

Just as she’s making her way to the bathroom, Lexi hears a frantic knock at her door. She quickly makes her way down the stairs, hoping the noise doesn’t wake her mom up. Lexi opens the door expecting to see Cassie and is stunned into silence when she sees that its Rue standing on the other side.

To say that Rue looked rough would be an understatement. She had been crying, and her mascara was smudged all around her eyes, giving her the appearance of a very sad racoon. She was still dressed in her tux, and it didn’t seem like she had been away from the dance for long. There was a fragile look in her eyes, one which told Lexi that Rue couldn’t handle many questions right now, and her fingers were knotted into a fist in front of her, which did nothing to hide the slight shaking of her hands. 

“Hey Rue,” Lexi said slowly, her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she took in Rue’s appearance, “what are you doing here?”

Rue had trouble holding eye contact with Lexi and stared at her shoulder while replying. “Could I stay here tonight Lex? I just – I can’t really be alone right now.” Rue’s voice trembles slightly and she makes herself look directly into Lexi’s eyes, waiting for her answer. 

Lexi can tell that there’s something big going on with Rue, and answers without hesitation.

“Of course you can, come in.”

She reaches forward and grabs Rue’s hand to gently pull her inside. Rue looks up at Lexi and gives her a small smile that fades quickly, then squeezes her hand and follows Lexi upstairs. Once they get to her room, Lexi makes her way to her dresser and rummages around, looking for an oversized shirt and some shorts. She finds them and turns around to pass them to Rue, who had moved to sit on her bed. 

Lexi pauses for a second as she stares at Rue and feels a lump grow in her throat at how small and broken she looks, huddled on her bed with her head on her knees and a vacant expression on her face. Lexi clears her throat and makes her way to Rue, holding the pajamas out in front of her. “This is the baggiest shirt I have,” Lexi says with a small smile, knowing Rue’s preference for oversized clothing. Rue accepts the small bundle of clothing and reaches out to grab Lexi’s fingers, giving them a small squeeze as thanks. 

Rue makes her way to the bathroom to change and Lexi sits down on her bed and exhales heavily. She doesn’t know exactly what happened tonight to make Rue show up at her door, but she can guess it has something to do with Jules. Lexi leans forwards and puts her face in her hands, thinking about Rue and Jules and the weird bond they shared. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel jealous every time she saw them together, or angry every time she saw Rue bring her to a place that used to be reserved for her and Rue. She could feel Rue slowly slipping away from her the past few years, and she hated Jules speeding up that process. Regardless of her own personal feelings towards Jules, all Lexi had every wanted was for Rue to be happy, and even she could notice how much happier Rue has been since Jules had moved into town. Lexi just wished that it was her that was responsible for Rue’s happiness.

“You ok Lex?”

Lexi lifts up her head, startled, to see Rue standing at her bedroom door, a concerned expression on her face. She had changed into the clothes Lexi had given her, and Lexi tried not to focus on how cute and rumpled Rue looked in the oversized t-shirt.

“Yeah, I just got caught up in my thoughts for minute,” Lexi says, reaching to pull the covers back from her small twin sized bed before getting in. “How’re you doing Rue? Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?”

Rue’s face quickly falls, and her lower lip starts trembling. “I don’t really want to talk about it tonight Lexi. It’s been a long night; I think I just want to go to sleep.”

Lexi nods quickly, not wanting to push Rue to far tonight, and pats the space on the mattress beside her. “Turn off the light and get in here. We don’t have to talk about anything tonight.”

Rue smiles gratefully and flicks the light off, making her way through the moonlit room towards Lexi’s bed. She slides in and turns away from Lexi, trying to take up as little space as possible in the small bed.

Lexi stares at the tension in Rue’s shoulders and feels a sense of helplessness as to how to help her friend. She remembers that young Rue loved to cuddle, and hesitantly slides her hand towards Rue’s torso. She holds her breathe and waits, exhaling in relief when she seems some tension slide out of Rue’s shoulders, and when she doesn’t push Lexi’s hand away. Emboldened, Lexi gently positions herself closer to Rue’s back, stopping once she can feel the heat emanating from her. She moves her hand to wrap around Rue’s stomach and her breath catches slightly when Rue moves her hand to cover Lexi’s. Rue’s breathing slowly evens out, and Lexi’s can feel her start to fall asleep.

Lexi feels an ache in her heart as she holds Rue. She knows that tonight is a one-off and that she shouldn’t get used to holding Rue like this, but for tonight she’s going to allow herself to enjoy it, and to pretend that she’s the girl that Rue wants.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is appreciated!


End file.
